At the Financial Times Future of the Car Summit 2016 industry experts gathered to discuss all aspects of the automotive industry and to consider how it must adapt to the changing demands of society and the latest innovations in technology.
We can make the best car in the world, but if it doesn’t have a place in society, then society is not going to take it
Electric and autonomous vehicles are the big trends shaping the automotive industry at present, but as a futurologist at Volvo, Aric Dromi’s job is to help the company prepare for a world 10, 20 or even 50 years from now.
The automotive industry, says Aric, is the second largest untapped industry on the planet, behind energy, and the two are becoming ever more closely linked.
What this means to your brand
1. Using backwards induction, designers and artists are looking from the perspective of an imagined future.
2. People are seeking brands that can act as long-term partners on their journey to optimisation.
3. WiFi, satellite and radio signals are now considered to be untapped energy resources.
4. Removing friction from the consumer journey, through digitisation and vehicle interfaces is an untapped area in the automotive industry.
5. Electric vehicles are just the beginning of a big shift in a long journey towards eco-friendly design.
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UK – Nissan has begun trialling an electric battery system that could help users save on domestic energy bills.
- The xStorage units are made using former LEAF batteries, giving renewed life to old vehicles
- The 4.2KWh units will enable home-owners to store energy from solar power or on the national grid
- The car-maker expects to sell 100,000 xStorage systems over the next five years
The xStorage system has begun trials in UK households and marks the next step in the car-maker’s electric vehicle (EV) futures project. Earlier this year, Nissan announced its vision of a vehicle-to-grid energy exchange along with architects Foster + Partners, which shows how EVs can be used to give electric energy back to the national grid in a two-way system.
‘Today we have 18,000 electric vehicles Nissan LEAFs running on the roads in the UK,’ said Paul Willcox, chairman of Nissan Europe, speaking at the Financial Times Live Future of the Car Summit in London on 11 May. ‘If all of those were connected, they would have the capacity of 180MW of energy, equivalent to two power plants.’
Now Nissan is working on extending the life of the EV beyond its use on the road. Batteries from its vehicles can be used as home batteries, capable of storing solar energy, or charging when electricity prices are at an off-peak level.
When prices start to peak the xStorage system can be used like a back-up generator, powering home appliances for free. The system can also sell energy back to the national grid. Nissan claims that installation of the device could make an average user £600 ($867, €762) every year from selling power back to the national grid at peak periods.
'EV is going to fundamentally change the way we think about managing electricity,' Erik Fairbairn, founder and CEO of Pod Point, which manufactures electric car charging points tells LS:N Global. 'The challenge is not one of technology, with Tesla Power Wall, and Nissan xStorage, the technology to do this is here today. What is lagging is the commercial models to make this widely adopted.'
The Big Picture
Connectivity between devices and power supplies will dramatically change the way that we interact with the urban environment. Find out more in our show review of the Conscious Cities 2016 conference.
The main motivators that drive people to adopt autonomous vehicles, are not safety or energy, but because we want to be on Facebook
Autonomous vehicles will become hubs for consumer technology, with super computer processing power, and intuitive, hands free controls.
What this means to your brand
1. Vehicle interiors are set to become less cockpit-like and closer in feel to a domestic lounge.
2. Technology is learning to adapt to us and anticipate our preferences, forging a more responsive relationship between man and machine.
3. The auto industry will look to the airline industry to consider how the travel experience will change.
4. There will no longer a distinction between digital and physical environments.
5. Major technology players will play a key role in the design of autonomous vehicle interiors.
By Alex Jordan and James Maiki